Ditch Fear. Seed hope.
Due to the sheer repetition of circling our gaze between nails, soldiers, and oppressor, our fear mushrooms until we believe that death is stronger than God. Jesus himself is always there to remind us of the truth, but there is another figure we can look to as a guide in restoring our faith in God alone: Mary Magdalene.
The "Bento Box" Preaching Prep Approach (or how I learned to embrace an ideal schedule)
What I’m beginning to discover is that thinking of my schedule as a “bento box” is decreasing stress because the decisions about what to do next are pretty much already made. Instead of feeling emotionally claustrophobic, it actually feels kind of safe. Kind of cozy when things fit juuuuust right. Most of all, thinking of my schedule like a bento box helps me visualize whether something will fit.
Best Sermon Prep Practices for Preachers—By Preachers!
I asked preachers who are members of Backstory Preaching’s Collective what their best practices are? What have they found effective in getting a meaningful sermon written week after week? And how have they created respite in the process? Their ideas may inspire you to try something new or more effective this week. And we’d love to hear your suggestions, too!
Preaching Advice Roundup: 16 Backstory Preaching mentors share strategies to make preaching easier, more effective, and more fun!
Sometimes, one small tip is powerful enough to unlock a new competency or significantly improve a skill or process. That’s why today's blog is all tips, tips, and nothing but preaching tips. As the 2023-2024 Mentorship class wraps up their program and celebrates graduation, I asked current Backstory Preaching mentors to offer some of their favorite preaching strategies to help you craft more effective sermons in less time—while loving the process!
How to make your learning "stick": Ensuring your professional development isn't wasted
What have you done to improve your preaching?
If you’re like most of us, you have:
- bought books
- read some of them
- discovered a couple tips you incorporated in your next sermon
Mostly, though, you got fired up about preaching your next few sermons, and then the books started to gather dust.
The Key to an Inspired Palm Sunday Sermon (or Any Sermon)
Curiosity is a powerful driver in sermon prep. When we pay attention to our curiosity, brainstorm all the questions we have about a text, and then narrow our focus to our top three interests—we’ll save time in prep, discover information that sparks our wonder, and find delight in what the Spirit prompts and unearths for us. Read on for step-by-step instructions on applying this strategy to your Palm Sunday sermon and any sermon.
5 Biggest Blocks to Effective, Creative Sermon Prep
How we set ourselves up for sermon prep makes all the difference in our experience of preaching. Consider these five common mistakes preachers make that block effective, efficient sermon prep. When we overcome these obstacles, our creativity expands, and we craft sermons we believe in and are excited to offer. Are any of these blocks keeping you from a vibrant preaching life right now?
The Preacher's Trust: A Practice for Becoming a Better Preacher
To become a better golfer, there are clear skills one can practice to improve. But what if you want to become a better preacher? The Preacher’s Trust offers ten areas to which preachers can dedicate consistent effort in order to see growth in their life, spirituality, and craft.
10 Rules for Preachers to Stay Healthy, Wealthy in Spirit, and Wise
Whether we preach weekly or less often, there’s always another Sunday, another funeral, another wedding, another Holy Week circling back around that needs a sermon.
If we’re not careful, the things that bring us joy—our loved ones, our fascination with Scripture, and our connection to God—are in constant danger of being taken for granted.
Left untended, they wither.
How do we want to feel when we look back on our preaching careers? How do we want our loved ones to feel looking back on them?
Here are ten rules to keep us healthy, wealthy in spirit, and wise—for the long haul.
Preaching on Stewardship: Discern Three Meaningful Sermon Themes in Less than an Hour
Stewardship preaching can be full of angst because it seems so much is at stake. However, the focus on outcome moves our sermons away from the true needs of our congregations. This stewardship guide will help you reframe your stewardship preaching with a process you can complete in an hour, dozens of scriptures verses, and an example of how the process can be applied. May it encourage you in this stewardship season.